Governor of Kaduna state, Nasir El-Rufai has said that the younger generation seeking to rule the nation faces a daunting task in convincing the political class and the populace of their experience to hold the country together.
EL-Rufai made this assertion on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television’s, Sunrise Daily, where he detailed that the country’s complex structure required a leader with notable experience.
“It is a complex society and it requires experience,” the 52-year-old said.
Speaking further, Kaduna state’s first citizen was of the opinion that his preference for a leader lay with the younger class but there were certain elements they lacked
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“At the National level, I would have preferred a younger person but the reality in Nigeria is that the younger person must also have that varied experience that will enable him to hold the country together.”
“It requires a track record of performance that maybe a 50-year-old cannot have and cannot convince the political class or general public.”
“Instinctively I will love to see younger people at different levels of leadership and we have tried to do that in Kaduna we brought in young people and they have performed wonderfully and a few have disappointed as is normal
“We have brought in women and they have done very well a few have disappointed.”
When asked why he perceives his principal (Tinubu) as the right candidate for the job of leading the country despite his age, El-Rufai maintained that Tinubu’s role was all-inclusive and was geared towards raising the next generation of young leaders
“I consider the septuagenarians running for office now as transitional leaders my hope is that whoever is president of Nigeria and I can say if Asiwaju wins or when Asiwaju wins because I am confident, he will win,” he said.
“You will see a large collection of young people in the administration because I think Asiwaju sees his role as that of a transitional leader to fix some of the problems,s we have but build a new leadership class.”
“That is the only way because it is very difficult for a 40 or 50-year-old to convince Nigerians or those of us in the political; system that he has the experience.”
